The goal of the strategy final project is to provide you with practical experience with the elements of strategic management. The final project will require data collection about, and the analysis of, the firm that you choose for your final project. By the end of the project, you will have gained practice in using key strategic management concepts and processes, increased your understanding of the course objectives, and developed real-life experience in conducting a complete strategic management analysis of a company.

The requirements of the final project are presented below: 1. Submit your company and a brief description of the company to your instructor by the end of Week One. 2. List the top management of the firm and note what experience and leadership skills the executives bring to the firm. If it is a larger conglomerate, list both the corporate and business managers. 3. What is the principal business model of the firm? (How does the firm make most of its profits?) 4. Search for a vision, mission statement, and statement of values for your chosen firm. Note that not all organizations publish these statements, so you may need to make inferences from the available information. Relevant information is often available at the firm’s website (though it may take some searching) or is contained in its annual reports. You may also interview a manager of the firm or contact investor relations. You may also be able to compare the official statement with the business press coverage of the firm. 5. Identify the major goals of the company. What are its short-term versus long-term goals? What resources must the firm acquire to achieve its long-term goals? 6. Trace any changes in strategy that you can identify over time. Try to determine whether the strategic changes of your selected firm are a result of intended strategies, emergent strategies, or some combination of both. 7. Apply the five forces model to your industry. What does this model tell you about the nature of competition in the industry? Identify any strategic groups that might exist in the industry. How does the intensity of competition differ across the strategic groups you have identified? How dynamic is the industry in which your company is based? Is there evidence that industry structure is reshaping competition or has done so in the recent past? 8. Perform a SWOT analysis for your firm. Remember that strengths and weaknesses (S, W) are internal to the firm, and opportunities and threats (O, T) are external. Prioritize the strategic actions that you would recommend to your firm. Refer to the Implications for Strategic Leaders section on how to conduct a SWOT analysis and provide recommendations building from strategic alternatives. 9. Create a strategy canvas for your firm. Set on the horizontal axis an appropriate selection of the value curve items and on the vertical axis, set the other industry segments (such as strategic groups) for comparison. 10. Consider your firm’s competitive position and how it has responded to shifts in the external or internal environments. What major strategic change should the firm seriously consider implementing to avoid inertia? Or if the firm is already facing inertia, what can it do to break it? 11. If your firm decided to expand internationally, where does the firm reside on the integration-responsiveness framework? (Refer to Exhibit 10.7 if needed.) What does this result say about the “best” global strategy for your firm to use for international expansion? 12. How does your firm organize for innovation? Does it use a closed or an open innovation approach? Is its current approach working, or does it need changing? If it does need changing, in what way?

Submit a 10-15-page strategic management analysis on the company of your choice. Companies should be approved by Dr. Babb during Week 1 of the course. This paper should also contain your perspective and insights regarding the company. Research and provide support from scholarly or peer-reviewed journals.

Use eight (8) or more sources outside the course textbook and proofread your work before submitting for grade. Include a cover page containing the title of the paper, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length. There is no penalty for going over 15 pages but there is a penalty for going under 10 pages. This is to be completed no later than week 13 of the semester. Late submissions will be penalized